1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to Internet-based shopping and more particularly to shopping based on a product color or colors, a product listing time, and/or a product seller's location.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Internet-based shopping has grown into a major industry. Typical Internet-based shopping sites present a shopper with a wide variety of products when the shopper visits a shopping webpage. Within an interface associated with a typical Internet-based shopping site, the shopper (e.g., a user) chooses the products he or she wants to purchase and proceeds to pay for those products. Those products are then shipped to an address provided by the shopper.
Some Internet-based shopping sites are linked to a specific manufacturer or type of product and allow users to choose from only a limited array of products from that manufacturer or that type. Others are more general sites that allow users to select from a wide array of product types from a wide array of manufacturers. While some of these Internet-based shopping sites provide shoppers with a department store-like shopping experience where the sites present the shopper with the products of only large sellers or manufacturers, others provide shoppers with a more market-like shopping experience where the site presents the shopper with products from smaller or individual sellers or manufacturers. In any case, shoppers at Internet-based shopping sites are typically presented with a vast number of products of different types, colors, origins, etc. from which to choose.
When presented with such a vast number of products, effectively finding a desired product may be difficult. Typical Internet-based shopping sites provide shoppers with at least one search method designed to help shoppers find products among the numerous products offered for sale by the site.
One example of a search method offered by some Internet-based shopping sites is a keyword-based search method. In sites that offer such a search method, each product is associated with one or more keywords that are typically entered by the seller of the product when the product is listed with the site. Such search methods generally accept one or more keywords from a shopper and search through the products listed by the site for any products that are associated with the entered keyword(s). The search method then provides the shopper with a list of only those associated products.
Another example of a search method offered by some Internet-based shopping sites is a category-based search method. In sites that offer such search methods, each product is associated with one or more categories and, in some instances, subcategories. Shoppers using such search methods are generally presented with a list of categories from which to choose. Upon choosing a category, shoppers may be presented with the items associated with the chosen category and/or a list of subcategories associated with the category.